The importance of registries in clinical practice: Insights from the national atopic dermatitis registry TREATgermany.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory, multifactorial skin disease characterized by eczematous skin lesions, severe itching, and serious limitations in quality of life. Since 2016, TREATgermany has been a national clinical registry for patients with moderate to severe AD with around 2,550 participating patients, enabling the collection of physical, patient-reported social and psychological data as well as the collection of biosamples in routine care. TREATgermany is one of the largest academically managed AD registries in the world.

Flimsy but handy: Devising an algorithm as a novel approach to the pharmacotherapy of cocaine addiction.

Cocaine addiction is a devastating disorder, not only for the individual but also for society. Due to the rapid increase in cocaine consumption worldwide, cocaine and its deleterious psychiatric and physical consequences have increasingly become a major focus of addiction medicine. Unfortunately, advances in the treatment of cocaine addiction cannot keep pace with the surging demand for effective, fast-acting, readily available and affordable therapies.

Bacterial motility depends on a critical flagellum length and energy-optimized assembly.

The flagellum is the most complex macromolecular structure known in bacteria and is composed of around two dozen distinct proteins. The main building block of the long, external flagellar filament, flagellin, is secreted through the flagellar type-III secretion system at a remarkable rate of several tens of thousands of amino acids per second, significantly surpassing the rates achieved by other pore-based protein secretion systems. The evolutionary implications and potential benefits of this high secretion rate for flagellum assembly and function, however, have remained elusive.

Preserving potential: Surgeons as key partners in establishing a living sarcoma biobank for translational research purposes.

Background: Sarcoma is a rare type of cancer, of which over 70 distinct molecular subtypes are known. Because these tumours are so rare and complex, treatment outcomes have remained similar over the past decades and research is progressing slowly. For these rare cancers, personalised medicine and patient-derived models might pose solutions for therapeutic problems, but researchers depend on clinicians to access fresh, viable tumour tissue.

Superb Microvascular Imaging Is Superior to Doppler Imaging in Ruling Out Ulcerative Colitis Disease Activity.

Background: There is an unmet medical need for noninvasive techniques to determine disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and intestinal ultrasound (IUS) has shown promising performance in this regard. In addition to parameters such as bowel wall thickness, stratification, and mesenteric fat, color Doppler signals are used to determine inflammatory activity in the gut. However, whether superb microvascular imaging (SMI), a microvascular flow imaging technique, improves the diagnostic accuracy is currently unclear.

Distinct gene regulatory dynamics drive skeletogenic cell fate convergence during vertebrate embryogenesis.

Cell type repertoires have expanded extensively in metazoan animals, with some clade-specific cells being crucial to evolutionary success. A prime example are the skeletogenic cells of vertebrates. Depending on anatomical location, these cells originate from three different precursor lineages, yet they converge developmentally towards similar cellular phenotypes.

Structural Optimization of Covalent Inhibitors for Deubiquitinase ChlaDUB1 of as Antibiotic Agents.

The cysteine protease ChlaDUB1 has proven to be a promising new target for antichlamydial therapy. This deubiquitinase manipulates protein homeostasis of the infected human host cell, concealing the chlamydial infection. In this study, we optimized a previously identified scaffold of covalently acting ChlaDUB1 inhibitors using a combination of docking, synthesis and enzymatic screening.

Latitudinal scaling of aggregation with abundance and coexistence in forests.

The search for simple principles that underlie the spatial structure and dynamics of plant communities is a long-standing challenge in ecology. In particular, the relationship between species coexistence and the spatial distribution of plants is challenging to resolve in species-rich communities. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of the spatial patterns of 720 tree species in 21 large forest plots and their consequences for species coexistence.

Influence of different pulping processes, cold caustic extraction, and bleaching as common post-treatments on properties of produced lignocellulose nanocrystals (LCNCs) from bagasse.

The influence of different pulping processes-soda, monoethanolamine, and Formacell-along with cold caustic extraction (CCE) and a bleaching sequence (DEpD) as post-treatments on the properties of lignocellulosic nanocrystals (LCNCs) was evaluated. LCNCs were produced through acid hydrolysis from the pulps. SEM and AFM analyses confirmed the successful production of LCNCs with dimensions under 100 nm.

First Single-Centre Experience with the Novel HIF-α Inhibitor Belzutifan in Switzerland.

Belzutifan is a new HIF-α inhibitor mainly used in two different indications: von Hippel-Lindau syndrome-associated renal cell carcinoma, haemangioblastomas and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, as well as sporadic advanced pre-treated renal cell carcinoma. Although efficacy has been demonstrated in phase II and III studies, belzutifan is still not approved in many countries. In addition, von Hippel-Lindau syndrome is a rare disease.

[Problematic digital media use and health literacy among schoolchildren in Germany. Findings of the 2022 HBSC Study].

Background: The digital life of children and young people is characterised by frequent use of social media and digital games. Previous research has demonstrated detrimental health effects of problematic media use. However, links with health literacy (HL) have received little attention, although frameworks suggest health literacy to be a determinant of health behaviour.

The effects of a personalized sleep improvement app in subclinical poor sleepers: A randomized controlled trial.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a personalized smartphone application on subjective sleep quality, wellbeing and stress in participants with subclinical sleep problems. Healthy participants with subclinical threshold sleep issues that did not meet diagnostic criteria for insomnia were randomly assigned to use the app or be on a waiting list for app usage (control group). Subjective data on sleep quality (sleep quality component of Sleep Questionnaire B [primary endpoint] and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), feeling refreshed after the sleep component of Sleep Questionnaire B, Short Form-12 physical and mental components, and stress (Perceived Stress Scale) were compared between the app and control groups at baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks.

Efficacy and safety of nerinetide in acute ischaemic stroke in patients undergoing endovascular thrombectomy without previous thrombolysis (ESCAPE-NEXT): a multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial.

Background: In the ESCAPE-NA1 trial, treatment with nerinetide, an eicosapeptide that interferes with post-synaptic density protein 95, was associated with improved functional outcome among patients with acute ischaemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion undergoing endovascular thrombectomy without co-treatment with an intravenous thrombolytic agent. There was no benefit when intravenous thrombolytic agent co-treatment was used. We sought to confirm the clinical benefit of nerinetide in the absence of previous intravenous thrombolytic drug treatment.

Addressing the challenges of acute toxicity hazard classification using a non-animal defined approach.

Acute fish toxicity is an ecotoxicological endpoint which provides important information about a chemical's potential to elicit adverse effect(s) on fish. These effects are typically studied using in vivo tests but for animal welfare reasons as well as the quest for increased species relevance, biological coverage, mechanistic understanding of effects and throughput, there have been significant efforts in recent years to reduce or replace the use of animals in (eco)toxicological hazard assessment, by developing defined approaches (DA) or integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATA). To this end, a novel score-based DA has been developed, which integrates three in silico predictions from freely available (Q)SARs: the VEGA Fish (KNN-Read-Across) and Fathead Minnow (KNN-IRFMN) models and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ECOSAR Fish 96-h LC50 model, along with in vitro RTgill-W1 data.

A Mixed Methods Evaluation of the Statutory Duty of Candour in Victorian Health Services: Study Protocol.

Background: A statutory duty of candour (SDC) was introduced in 2022 in the Australian state of Victoria to increase openness and honesty with patients and families about healthcare adverse events. SDC requires each healthcare service entity by law to provide the patient or their family or carer who experiences an adverse event with; a written account of the facts, an apology, a description of the health service's response to the event, and the steps being taken to prevent reoccurrence. This research aims to evaluate the impacts of SDC in the 2 years since its implementation.

Assessment of psychosocial aspects in adults in post-COVID-19 condition: the EURONET-SOMA recommendations on core outcome domains for clinical and research use.

Background: Harmonizing core outcome domains allows for pooling data, comparing interventions, and streamlining research evaluation. At the same time clinicians require concise and feasible measures for routine practice. Considering the heterogeneity of post-COVID-19 condition, a biopsychosocial approach requires sufficient coverage of the psychosocial dimension with assessments.

Relevance of capsule endoscopy in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding - a comprehensive real-world study.

Gastrointestinal bleeding is a common clinical problem. In 5% of these cases, no source of bleeding can be found by gastroscopy or colonoscopy. The aim of this study was to investigate which of these patients benefit from capsule endoscopy (CE) and how it affects subsequent management.

Redefining Good-prognosis Seminoma: Implications for Clinical Practice of the Updated International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group Classification and Results from the SEMITrends Survey.

The 2021 updated International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group classification for seminomatous germ cell tumours confirmed and refined the original classification, introducing the notion that lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) elevation above 2.5 times the upper limit of normal separates the good-risk prognostic group into two distinct subgroups, with clearly inferior survival outcomes for the high-LDH subgroup. Validation of this prognostic factor has understandably opened the question of the optimal management for patients with high-LDH good-risk seminoma.

The 6-months follow-up of the TREAT-CAD trial: Aspirin versus anticoagulation for stroke prevention in patients with cervical artery dissection.

Introduction: Cervical artery dissection is a major cause of stroke in the young. The optimal choice and duration of antithrombotic treatment for stroke prevention are debated, particularly beyond 3 months after symptom onset.

Patients And Methods: TREAT-CAD (ment of ervical rtery issection) was a randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment comparing non-inferiority of aspirin to anticoagulation (Vitamin-K-antagonists) in participants with symptomatic, Magnetic-Resonance-(MR)-imaging-verified cervical artery dissection.

Hydrophilic polymer coating delamination during neurointerventional treatment after microcatheter withdrawal: particulate identification through attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

Hydrophilic coating embolism (HCE) is a rare and underreported complication in neurointerventional practice that can lead to serious medical consequences. Two endovascular procedures were interrupted at our institution after a cloudy liquid content was observed inside the rotating hemostatic valves (RHV) during microcatheter withdrawal. In both cases, the same type of microcatheter (Prowler Select Plus) and RHV (Merit) were being used, and coating dislodgement was suspected.

Development of the fish invitrome for animal-free environmental risk assessment of chemicals.

Given the need to reduce animal testing for environmental risk assessment, we aim to develop a fish invitrome, an alternative fish modular framework capable of predicting chemical toxicity in fish without the use of animals. The central module of the framework is the validated RTgill-W1 cell line assay that predicts fish acute toxicity of chemicals (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Test Guideline (OECD TG) 249). Expanding towards prediction of chronic toxicity, the fish invitrome includes two other well-advanced modules for chemical bioaccumulation/biotransformation and inhibition of fish growth.

Convening Hispanic/Latino Caregiving Advisors for Inclusive Research in Dementia Palliative Care.

Dementia clinical trials often fail to include diverse and historically minoritized groups. We sought to adapt the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias-Palliative Care (ADRD-PC) clinical trial to improve enrollment and address the cultural needs of people with late-stage ADRD who identify as Hispanic or Latino and their family caregivers. Bilingual, bicultural research team members adapted study materials and processes using the Cultural Adaptation Process Model.